Chief Justice Decries support for academia

Kumasi, Oct. 17, GNA - Mr Justice George Kingsley Acquah, the Chief Justice, has identified the lack of logistical and resource support as the greatest hindrance to the advancement of academia and intellectual activities in the country.

"Innovations, scholarly publications and thought are stagnated because there is an absence of academic opinion on the actions and omissions of policy makers".

These were contained in a speech read on his behalf at the launch of the Faculty of Law of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Law Journal in Kumasi on Friday.

The launching of the journal formed part of activities to outdoor the Faculty of Law to the general legal community and also to provide a forum for the dissemination of scholarly research to enhance legal education in addition to the training of law graduates.

Mr Justice Acquah pointed out that, academic opinions were critical, lucid and very educative in facilitating the socio-economic development of the nation and therefore urged government and stakeholders to be fully committed to supporting the academia. For the effective all-round training of today's lawyer, he said, there was the need for scholarship and a desire for critical thinking to be an integral part of legal education in the country.

Mr Justice Acquah said this had become necessary, since the landscape of legal education the world over had assumed a character depictive of scholarly and intellectual curiosity.

The period of old when the focus remained that of straightjacket training of lawyers as good advocates and solicitors had changed, he said.

Whilst calling for the creation of a legal think-tank, in which the practical issues of society will be the subjects of vibrant academic scrutiny, the Chief Justice stressed the need for the formation of an Association of Law Teachers in the Ghanaian university system.

Mr Justice Acquah was hopeful that such an association just like the Ghana Bar Association would be a respectable body, whose views on legal, business and socio-political issues should be taken seriously by all interested in the evolution of a progressive society, where the rule of law is enshrined.

Professor Kwesi Andam, Vice-Chancellor of KNUST stated that the successful launch of the journal marked another milestone in the university's success story.

He said it had come at a time when the general public continued to express interest in issues of legal importance.

The Reverend Professor E.H. Ofori-Amankwaah, Dean of the KNUST Faculty of Law and also the Editor-In-Chief of the Journal, urged contributors to the journal to strive to develop articles that were responsive to the needs of industry and the business community. He noted that, the maiden edition of the journal had seven essays, which cut across the Interstate Succession Law of 1985, PNDC Law 111, The Law of citizenship, the Judicial Limits of the Powers of the Security Council as enshrined in the 1373 Resolution, Developing Sexual Harassment Jurisprudence in the Workplace as a Cause of Action in Ghana, Nigerian Courts and Strikes, the Universality of Human Rights and the Regime of Industrial Standards Regulation in Nigeria.